Hashtag Re-Appropriation for Audience Control on Recommendation-Driven Social Media Xiaohongshu (rednote)

Research Background and Problem

• Challenges or Issues Identified by the Authors: While recommendation algorithms on social media platforms enhance personalized recommendations, they also create challenges for content creators in predicting and controlling their target audiences. This issue is particularly pronounced in maintaining safe spaces for marginalized groups. Female users on the Xiaohongshu platform, faced with the opacity of recommendation algorithms and the resulting male gaze and harassment, have sought various methods to avoid interference from male users.

• Importance of the Problem: The impact of recommendation algorithms not only limits users' control over content visibility but also leads to issues such as online harassment, echo chambers, and the encroachment of spaces for women and other marginalized groups. These challenges question the content governance capabilities of digital platforms and users' autonomy, forming a core issue in the governance of algorithm-driven social media today.

• Research Motivation and Related Work: This study uses the repurposing of the #Baby Supplemental Food (BSF) hashtag as an example to explore how female users reclaim control over content dissemination, employing hashtags as digital tools to resist algorithmic power structures. The research also connects with studies on digital feminism, user control theories, and delves into interactional issues caused by recommendation algorithms.

Solution

• Methods and Solutions: The authors conducted a mixed-methods study to analyze the repurposing of the #BSF hashtag, collecting data from 5,800 related posts and conducting in-depth interviews with 24 active Xiaohongshu users from diverse backgrounds. The study examined how these users utilized #BSF, the strategies, motivations, and user responses involved in its evolution, aiming to explain the extent to which the repurposed hashtag addressed the issue of controlling target audiences.

• Innovative Aspects: Instead of merely studying how women avoid harassment, the authors provided a detailed analysis of the multi-layered meanings behind using "anti-male" hashtags to control audiences. This approach demonstrates how users reclaim partial power within platform algorithmic governance and intervene in content distribution mechanisms through hashtag reconstruction.

• Implementation Steps:

  1. Quantitative Analysis: Conduct topic modeling, language expression analysis, and co-occurrence network analysis on the collected #BSF and derivative hashtag posts to explore the correlation between hashtags and content, as well as their evolution patterns.
  2. In-depth Interviews: Use semi-structured interviews to uncover users' motivations, attitudes, and reactions to the repurposing of hashtags.
  3. Comprehensive Analysis: Compare whether the hashtags effectively block certain audience groups and how they balance content relevance with traffic control.

Research Findings

• Specific Findings:

  1. Dynamic Evolution of Hashtag Repurposing: #BSF evolved from being used to block male audiences and attract user attention to losing its effectiveness and spawning multiple new hashtags (e.g., #MaleVasectomy, #185TallHandsome).
  2. Findings from Correlation Analysis: Although the original meaning of the #BSF hashtag was "baby supplemental food," over 80% of the posts were unrelated to the original topic, with many used for daily sharing or showcasing women's living spaces.
  3. User Motivations: Female users adopted this anti-male strategy due to deep frustration with online harassment, disappointment in the platform's bias toward male users, and the ineffectiveness of existing reporting and blocking features.

• Comparison with Existing Solutions:

  1. Unlike traditional hashtag usage, the repurposing of #BSF reflects users' active manipulation of recommendation algorithms.
  2. The study highlights the profound impact of reallocating a single hashtag on managing diverse audiences, rather than merely focusing on static content categorization.
  3. Unlike conventional privacy settings, user-initiated hashtag repurposing addresses governance gaps caused by the lack of algorithm transparency.

• Experimental or Evaluation Results:

  • Audience reactions to hashtag repurposing showed significant differences: female users generally found it effective, while male users were often skeptical or misunderstood its intent.
  • Quantitative language analysis revealed that compared to other content-related hashtags, #BSF and its derivative hashtags exhibited higher levels of negative sentiment, with variations depending on the specific hashtag (e.g., #MaleVasectomy being more aggressive).

• Limitations and Future Directions:

  1. Hashtag Ineffectiveness: As #BSF became a trending topic, the influx of advertising content and male users diminished its original function of controlling male audiences.
  2. Research Balance: The study may lack balance due to difficulties in collecting perspectives from certain user groups (e.g., male users and those posting "bait content").
  3. Future Research Directions: Future studies could explore audience management issues on other algorithmic platforms (e.g., TikTok) and further investigate the integration of algorithm transparency with user control features.

This research reveals the potential for user power restructuring within recommendation-driven platforms, offering new perspectives for exploring community governance and providing insights into digital feminism, user control, and platform design.